Law and Policy

Law and Policy (Photo by Unsplash)
Law and Policy Another Fight Over Local Control: This One May Sink a Bill Decriminalizing Pot

Introduced in three legislative sessions, parties now disagreeing on a change that would remove local control over penalties.

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski April 12, 2021 12:25 pm CDT
Law and Policy While Wisconsin may be late to the game in passing such a law, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said it will help the industry recover from the economic downturn. (Shutterstock)
Law and Policy Evers Signs Cocktails-to-Go Bill

The law allows bars and restaurants to sell alcoholic drinks to-go.

Christina Lieffring Christina Lieffring March 26, 2021 4:37 pm CDT
Law and Policy The state Capitol in Madison is reflected off the windows of an office building across the street. (Photo by Julian Emerson)
Law and Policy Wisconsin Republicans Reintroduce and Pass Controversial COVID-19 Provisions

Several provisions that killed the Legislature’s first proposed COVID-19 package this year now passed as individual bills.

Christina Lieffring Christina Lieffring March 24, 2021 11:48 am CDT
Environment Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
Environment Critics Say I-94 Expansion in Milwaukee Puts Evers’ Administration at Odds With Biden—and Itself

The governor's climate change task force pointed to the historically detrimental effects of urban freeways and ports on communities of color in a 2020 report. But his administration is pressing ahead anyway.

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski March 19, 2021 4:24 pm CDT
Law and Policy Rush Limbaugh in his studio during his radio show (Photo by mark peterson/Corbis via Getty Images)
Law and Policy Once Again, Wisconsin Republicans Refuse to Recognize Black History Month. They Honored Rush Limbaugh Instead.

Democratic legislators spoke in the chamber Tuesday about the role Rush Limbaugh played in spreading disinformation, most recently about the coronavirus and the Nov. 3 election, which prompted the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6.

Christina Lieffring Christina Lieffring March 18, 2021 3:50 pm CDT

continuing coverage

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) holds a press conference on April 13 where he demands Gov. Tony Evers accept severe restrictions on local health officials, schools, and the governor himself in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in federal supplemental COVID food aid. (Image via Wisconsin Eye.) Politics Evers and Timberlake Find a Way to Bypass Vos’ Willingness to Lose Millions in Food Aid for Families
An archival image of the Plainfield Tunnel Channel Lakes in Waushara County, which have experienced a reduction in water levels due to groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture. (Photo credit: Wisconsin DNR) Natural Resources Clean Water at Stake as WI Supreme Court Hears Appeals to Take GOP Restrictions Off the DNR
Left: A sewer line under construction along St. Paul Avenue in Milwaukee in 1920. Right: Victor Berger, co-founder of the Socialist Party of America, editor of the Milwaukee Leader, and the first Socialist elected to Congress. Lower: Construction of a Milwaukee sewer line in 1932. (Photos courtesy: Wisconsin Historical Society and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Graphic by Morgaine Ford-Workman.) Infrastructure Infrastructure Is Good Politics—Just Ask Milwaukee’s Sewer Socialists of 1904
The state Capitol in Madison is reflected off the windows of an office building across the street. (Photo by Julian Emerson) Politics Not Allowed: Nonpartisan Analysis Finds a Flaw in GOP Plans for Wisconsin Stimulus Money
Social Justice (Illustration by Morgaine Ford-Workman)
Social Justice This Isn’t Your Grandma’s ERA. Wisconsin Dems Go Big on a New Equal Rights Amendment.

State constitution would bar discrimination on the basis of gender as the original ERA, but also offer protection in many more ways.

Christina Lieffring Christina Lieffring March 10, 2021 6:58 am CST
Law and Policy Rep. Jim Steineke speaking
Law and Policy Has Qualified Police Immunity Become Absolute Immunity? Task Force Is Divided.

Police defend the controversial doctrine while activists and a former Republican Assembly candidate criticize it.

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski February 26, 2021 4:24 pm CST